Why has Global Warming become a US of A political issue?

Question

What is starting to irk me is that many deniers of Global Warming are mentioning political issues that are relevant only to the US of A.

This is a GLOBAL ENVIROMENTAL issue. What the hey do politics have to do with it?

What is the rest of the world to do while the USA settles this? Keep paying dollars and health, and watch the state of the planet deteriorate until they make up their minds?

Answer 1

because i DON"T care about the rest of the world...

i dont' live in the rest of the world nor do i believe that i should be bound or ruled by the government of a country i have nothing to do with...

I notice you didn't have any recommendations just complaints.. the rest of the world can start by showing positive motions themselves.. they set great goals.. but have shown no signs of ACHIEVING those goals... the countries that are close to being able to meet the goals are REDUCING carbon emissions they are just buying credits...

so in short in America ... global warming IS a USA issue..

in England it should be JUST UK issue

in France just a france issue.. etc.

Answer 2

The AGW believers can have all the alarmism they want and speculate on whether it will get so hot that the North pole will completely disappear this year or next year.

Only thing you can't do is actually detect an increase in temperature.  The hottest year on record was 1998 - for all we know global warming ended 10 years ago.

You can also bemoan the rate at which the polar bears are dying out, but you can't observe a decrease in polar bear numbers.  The population of polar bears has been increasing since the 1970's.

Answer 3

The USA is the last bastion of truly free people- not subects of government rule.

We make our own decisions and won't tolerate government intrusion in our personal decision making.

We certainly won't tolerate the UN telling us what to do.

AGW is a trojan horse for global socialism.

Most American citizens want no part of socialism or big government ruling over us. Our constitution guarantees us the right to arms to keep tyranny in check and most of us are armed.

Unlike the rest of the "free" world we enjoy freedoms the rest of you lost long ago.

Kyoto is a joke and does nothing but line the pockets of the elite who dreamed it up(the oil for food bunch at the UN).

Answer 4

hehe...maybe because of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"...just my guess.

Answer 5

People sell fear in order to gain power. That is all it is about. Then those who push this theory want money and grants for research. Then they push for a carbon tax.  It is very scary what some will do once they gain power

Answer 6

Because the US is the only country that can make a difference if global warming is a legitimate threat. But capitalism is governed by politics not future predictions of climatic change by computer models. Do you honestly think China will stop burning coal anytime soon?

Answer 7

Perhaps you didn't know that its poster boy Al Gore is politician, not a scientist. And last I heard, The United States of America was the only country in the world with America in it's name, unlike "Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and all the countries of South America".

Answer 8

The USA is the world's largest per capita polluter and consumer of fossil fuels so are an integral part of the problem and a necessary part of the solution.

Unfortunately, the USA also seems to have a disproportionate number of uneducated (or paranoid or something!) people who deny GW and/or block meaningful action.

So what can we do?

Well, some things will happen naturally without distinct action; for example, the US economy and industrial competitiveness will sink as they fall behind in technological advances and rely on increasingly more expensive oil (witness the fall of the $ against the € recently or the relative robustness of the European economies despite them paying triple for oil AND spending huge amounts on GW).

Secondly, we can start imposing tariffs for a) unfair economic advantage of producing goods via 'dirty' (but cheaper in the short term) methods and b) to pay for their share of cleaning up their mess.

Basically, if the US won't do it, the world will do it for them - it's their own problem becuase in the end the US will be sponsoring R&D and industrial advances in other countries while there own increasingly lag behind.

It's a shame, because, of course, it would be far better for all of us if they joined in to help resolve the problem but if they won't then they will end up suffering the consequences more than the rest of the developed world (although the developing world will get shafted at both ends...)

MAYBE it will change once they get their election out the way - certainly regardless who wins, saying g'bye to oilman Bush will be a big step forward.

Answer 9

The deserts are expanding,  glaciers are melting and the climate is going to get even warmer.  So what, when that happens there will be still be plenty of room for us on the island of Antarctica.

Answer 10

Scientific facts have made up the minds of the informed.  The earth's temperature is cyclic and man has nothing to do with that.  Consider it settled.

Answer 11

It's a political issue because the believers made it so.

Do what you want to save the world from some imaginary monster, no one will stop you.  But this is not what you seek.  You are asking politicians to force others to behave as you think best for them.  That's politics.

It's selfish people like you that are causing this debate.  You rather force people to do as you desire rather than to do the work yourself and show others the advantages.

Answer 12

Many of the deniers are simply not interested in the overwhelming evidence that man is causing global warming, because they don't want anything to be done regardless. They plead ignorance and have no interest in studying the evidence. As long as they don't look at the evidence they can continue to spread ignorant claims to other ignorant people who also aren't interested in looking at the evidence.

Answer 13

you know i have know idea but i hate the fact that global warming is taking over.

Answer 14

The limits and taxes that the AGW proponents seek are entirely a matter of politics.

Why is it all about us?????    OK you mean you DON'T want to impose carbon taxes or carbon credits and don't want the government involved in what we choose to eat?    Good then.

Answer 15

"No matter if the science is all phony, there are collateral environmental benefits.... Climate change [provides] the greatest chance to bring about justice and equality in the world."

        Christine Stewart, Minister of the Environment of Canada

        recent quote from the Calgary Herald

"Scientists who want to attract attention to themselves, who want to attract great funding to themselves, have to (find a) way to scare the public . . . and this you can achieve only by making things bigger and more dangerous than they really are."

Petr Chylek

(Professor of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Commenting on reports by other researchers that Greenland's glaciers are melting.

(Halifax Chronicle-Herald, August 22, 2001)

Nobody is interested in solutions if they don't think there's a problem. Given that starting point, I believe it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous (global warming) is, as a predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions are...

former Vice President Al Gore

(now, chairman and co-founder of Generation Investment Management--

a London-based business that sells carbon credits)

"We have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we may have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest."

Stephen Schneider (leading advocate of the global warming theory)

(in interview for Discover magazine, Oct 1989)

Answer 16

It's become that way because the US has contributed the most of any country to global warming, and we have the most influence in taking action to stop it.  Unfortunately, we've become so addicted to oil and big oil companies have bought so much influence in our government that global warming has become a political issue.

You're right that it should be considered more of a global environmental issue, which is why these international conferences like in Kyoto and Bali are so important.  We all need to realize that this is a problem effecting the whole world, and everyone needs to take major steps to address it.